The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a portable scanner, and in particular to a portable scanner having a display.
A portable scanner includes a projector that projects light patterns on the surface of an object to be scanned. The position of the projector is determined by means of a projected, encoded pattern. Two (or more) cameras, the relative positions and alignment of which are known or are determined, can record images of the surface with a further, uncoded pattern. The three-dimensional coordinates (of the points of the pattern) can be determined by means of mathematical methods which are known per se, such as epipolar geometry.
In video gaming applications, scanners are known as tracking devices, in which a projector projects an encoded light pattern onto the target to be pursued, preferably the user who is playing, in order to then record this encoded light pattern with a camera and to determine the coordinates of the user. The data are represented on an appropriate display.
A system for scanning a scene, including distance measuring, may include, in its most simplest form, a camera unit with two cameras, and illumination unit and a synchronizing unit. The cameras, which may optionally include filters, are used for the stereoscopic registration of a target area. The illumination unit is used for generating a pattern in the target area, such as by means of a diffractive optical element. The synchronizing unit synchronizes the illumination unit and the camera unit. Camera unit and illumination unit can be set up in selectable relative positions. Optionally, also two camera units or two illumination units can be used.